Winning bidder doesn't want the item, so I would appreciate clarification on the next step...

Winning bidder was there from the very start and continued to bid throughout my 10 day listing. But, when she won the item she instantly sent me an apologetic message saying she doesn't want the item after all.

How does this even happen?

But anyway, what to do now?

I would assume that the following would be the recommended practice:

Wait four days and open an unpaid item dispute.

If they don't pay, just relist.

That's fine. But, the thing that confuses me is that a Second Chance Offer is selectable right now.

So, what would happen if I followed this through? Would this constitute a cancellation (of the winning bid) and risk my receiving bad feedback from the original buyer?

Re: Winning bidder doesn't want the item, so I would appreciate clarification on the next step...

As she's contacted you to say she longer wants the item, send her a cancellation request (via 'Resolve a problem' in the dropdown menu beside the item in your 'Sold' history) for her to formally agree to. Once she's done that, your FVFs will be auto-refunded and you'll be free to offer the item to the under-bidder.

Re: Winning bidder doesn't want the item, so I would appreciate clarification on the next step...

You can open a NPB case after 2 days now and I would not trust your buyer with a cancellation request as she could still leave negative feedback

So it would be best to just open a NPB as soon as possible to prevent that and close it after 4 days!

If the OP is a business seller then he has to accept the cancellation. If a private seller he doesn't have to accept it but the best option would be to do so. Why would the buyer leave a neg for the seller doing as requested?

UPI's are for the buyers who make no contact or give stupid reason's such as 'the dog bid'. In this case it seems like the buyer bid early then simply forgot about it, whioch is easy to do.

If the OP opens a UPI and the buyer then pays to avoid the strike but claims INR/SNAD and/or gives a neg for not accomodating his request would you still say that they did the right thing by not offering the cancellation?